


Redemption

by EtchCantrellorLightningHeterodyne



Category: The Order of the Stick
Genre: Fluff, I JUST WANT EVERYTHING TO BE OKAY, I Made Myself Cry, I figured someone else would also like some therapy, I made up names for the kids, It's so fucking happy, Other, Post-Canon Fix-It, Redemption, SO FLUFFY, So I made everything okay again, Some hurt/comfort, Tearful family renuions, The power of fanfic, This fic was therapy, Tooth-Rotting Sweetness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 22:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17886161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EtchCantrellorLightningHeterodyne/pseuds/EtchCantrellorLightningHeterodyne
Summary: Vaarsuvius knows that following the dragon's attack, Inkyrius and the children went to live with Aariandirus. It's been a year, and now the Gates are taken care of, existence is safe, and Vaarsuvius finally returns home.





	Redemption

Inkyrius was looking out the window, back to the door, when Vaarsuvius walked in.

“Do you regret it?” Inkyrius asked.

“ _ Yes _ ,” Vaarsuvius replied.

It was then that Inkyrius turned, and the green-haired baker could have killed kings with that glare.

“Which part?”

“The part where I left. The part where I accepted the offer of three fiends whom I never should have listened to in the first place. The part where I left you  _ again _ , where I let myself lose you and the children, where I- I cast that  _ accursed _ spell-”

Vaarsuvius, half-against their better judgement, took a step back.

Why had they done this? Why had they agreed to come back at all, when Ivyleaf was  _ so much better off  _ without them in it?

“Suvie…” Inkyrius murmured. “Aariandirus told me what Familicide was.”

_ History's worst mass-murderer. _

_ And what have I to show for it? The charred ruins of the cottage and everything it once was home to, and an ocean of blood on my hands. _

“Did you know? When you cast it? Did you know how much damage it would do?”

“Yes. I knew. But I-”

They cut themselves off. They didn't get to make excuses; not for this. Not to Kyrie.

“You didn't understand. Or stop to think long enough  _ to _ understand.”

Nobody had ever been able to get around their walls like Kyrie could. The baker was perhaps the only person in the world who had always been- and would likely always be- able to see right through Vaarsuvius without needing to look twice.

Vaarsuivus nodded, pretending that the stinging in their eyes was from the lack of sleep.

“I forgive you.”

The wizard froze, violet eyes snapping up to meet green ones. Had they imagined it? Or- perhaps they’d started hallucinating again- they hadn’t tranced well in what felt like months.

Inkyrius sighed, and  _ smiled _ , and stepped forward.

“No, you’re not hallucinating. I do. You- you  _ really _ didn’t know what you were doing. And… you regret it. More importantly, you’re trying to make up for it, which, I’m going to rather honest with you, I honestly didn’t think you were capable of until now.”

Vaarsuvius blinked back tears (again), hesitantly stepping a little closer to Kyrie.

“You… you married me thinking I wasn’t capable of apology?”

“...yeah. I did. I didn’t think, at the time, that your pride let you regret anything you did. But I loved you anyway, and I figured I’d get used to not getting ‘I’m sorry’s. And… I didn’t, until-”

“I’m sorry,” Vaarsuvius blurted.

Inkyrius blinked, and the wizard could have sworn they saw the faintest hints of a smile on their face.

“I’m sorry,” they continued. “For… for everything. For not seeing what I was doing wrong- for  _ refusing _ to see what I was doing wrong. For abandoning you and the children in the name of something I could never obtain. For- for killing so many people when I could have just left the dragon dead and been done with it. I’m sorry for not contesting the divorce-”

“Really? I mean, much as I hate to say it, I feel like the existence of the planet and everybody on it is kinda more important.”

Vaarsuvius gave a breathy laugh, scrubbing the heel of their palm over their face, and then they felt something like a circlet settle atop their hair.

The wizard opened their eyes to see Inkyrius smiling softly, as they reached up, their fingers hitting a thin band of metal, just like the one they’d lost over the ocean almost a year ago.

The one Kyrie had given them before they’d set out.

“What-”

“It means I forgive you, you absolute twit.”

Before Vaarsuvius could answer, they found themselves pulled into an absolutely amazing hug, and they were wrapping their arms around their Kyrie and sobbing into their shoulder.

Inkyrius was widely known through Ivyleaf for being the one who gave the best hugs. Vaarsuvius, having been their mate, had gotten many an envious look over the years.

The baker pressed kisses into Vaarsuvius’ hair, running a hand along their spine, and Vaarsuvius broke completely. 

“I love you,” Inkyrius whispered. “I really, really do.”

The wizard in their arms sniffed almost pitifully, and buried their face further in Inkyrius’ shirt.

“I love you too,” Vaarsuvius said. “I love you. I love you more than all the power in the world.”

Inkyrius hummed, rubbing circles into their Suvie’s back.

“Really?”

“Yes. Yes. And I wish it- I wish I’d realized it sooner.”

“Maybe. But- you realized it, right? And- you’re here. You came back, and you said you came back to fix things, and you meant it.”

Vaarsuvius wrapped their arms tighter around Inkyrius, tugging them closer in the process.

“I returned to fix things. But… I mainly returned so I could- so I could see you. Even- even if it was just long enough for you to yell at me and slam the door.”

Inkyrius gave a half muffled sob, and the two of them just stayed there, holding each other close and letting the tears fall for gods know how long.

“...Parent? Other Parent?”

Vaarsuvius whirled to face their children, knees hitting the floor in almost the same instant as they pulled their kids into a bone-crushing hug, ruffling Elari’s short green hair with one hand and half-finger-combing Nethel’s long auburn locks with the other.

Nethel  _ still _ wasn’t brushing their hair.

The twins tensed, before flinging themselves wholeheartedly into reciprocating the hug.

“Other Parent? Bethel told us the dragons got you after you left…”

Vaarsuvius pressed a kiss to Elari’s head, rubbing circles into the little elf’s back.

“I assure you both, I am quite alright.”

“...are you going to leave again?”

At that, Vaarsuvius pulled back, glancing back at Inkyrius.

And noticing the glimmer of Vaarsuvius’ wedding ring in the palm of their hand.

The wizard had stopped wearing it for fear of damaging it during their apprenticeship to Aarindarius- they’d neglected to take it with them when they left to become an adventurer because they hadn’t wanted to see it lost.

Inkyrius was smiling softly, and as they came to kneel on the floor as well, wrapping one arm around Vaarsuvius’ shoulders and the other around Elari and Nethel.

The wizard lifted their right hand, and as Inkyrius slid the ring back onto Vaarsuvius’ finger, they noticed that Kyrie was still wearing theirs.

“No, little ones. I’m not going to leave again. Not unless I take all of you with me.”

Elari and Nethel hugged their parents once more, and Vaarsuvius pressed a kiss to Kyrie’s cheek and one to the forehead of each of their little ones.

“...you’re going to drag us all over the planet to meet your friends, aren’t you?” Inkyrius asked.

“You’ve all been living with Aarindarius for the last year and I can only assume you’ve got no plans to fix the cottage, as none of the people I’ve spoken to have indicated as such.”

“We don’t.”

“...if any of you have objections to traveling so far for so long, I can simply write letters or cast Sending spells. We do not have to, if you do not want to.”

Elari and Nethel blinked up at their Other Parent with identical wide eyes.

“Would we get to see Azure City?” Elari asked.

“Or the dwarven lands?” Nethel added.

“Or an ambush?” Inkyrius retorted.

Vaarsuvius laughed softly, and Elari exchanged a wondering glance with their twin.

“Your Other Parent is right, of course. It is… very dangerous.”

“As dangerous as getting attacked by a dragon?” Elari said.

“Or living with Master Aarindarius,” Nethel added.

Inkyrius sighed, rolling their eyes.

“I’m taking some levels in Fighter first. Your Other Parent’s spells will only be able to do so much.”

“I’m sure the rest of the Order would be happy to join us. At the very least, I am certain of Elan’s enthusiasm and Miss Starshine’s ever-present desire to find yet more treasure. And Azure City is lovely this time of year.”

“...we’ll be taking a boat, right?  _ Not _ crossing the desert?”

“Gods above, no. Not until I’m quite certain General Tarquin is naught but ashes on the wind.”

“As long as we keep away from the wars… I  _ have _ always wanted to try rice cakes,” Inkyrius said.

“And I wanna see if the dwarves really live in tunnels!”

“In that case… perhaps I shall see if Aariandirus has a spare Teleport scroll?”

“And we will use it,  _ after I take a few levels in fighter _ .”

“Of course, Kyrie.”

“Other Parent, could I be a rogue?” Nethel asked.

Vaarsuvius looked down at their auburn-haired child.

“I’m certain we shall visit the greatest rogue I know very soon, my dear, and she will not mind showing you the basics.”

The look on Nethel’s face made every empty potion bottle Vaarsuvius would inevitably wind up with worth it.

“...can I be a paladin?” Elari said.

“Our first stop is Azure City, and I know for a fact that Hinjo is always happy to teach the ways of paladins to all willing to learn.”

Inkyrius sighed, and Vaarsuvius smiled, and the four of them wrapped their arms around each other once more.

It would be alright.

They would not leave their family behind ever again, and it would be alright.


End file.
